


Everything

by Vulpes86



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Episdoe 2x06, Episode Fix-it, F/M, Happy Ending, Missing Scene, So much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 21:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12850005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulpes86/pseuds/Vulpes86
Summary: Much needed missing scene from 2x06 "Death Proof." Betty and Jughead finally communicate and tell each other what has been going on. So much angst. So much. But we all know how Episode 6 ends, so don't fret too much ;).





	Everything

“We gotta go!”

Jughead ran around the hood of Reggie’s car, slamming the door and revving the engine, getting ready to make a quick get away. Betty shot one last side long I-can’t-believe-you-did-that-you-big-dumbie glance at Archie before opening the door and getting in with Jughead. As soon has her door shut, Jughead threw the car into first and floored the accelerator, peeling out of the lot, leaving behind a cloud of dust. 

Both Betty and Jughead were speechless as to what just happened. What was Archie thinking? Even Betty knew this was going to backfire, most likely on Jughead. She stared out the window, wondering how she was going to keep Jughead safe, safe from the Serpents, the Ghoulies, the North Side. Did she even get to try to keep him safe any more, would he let her? She risked a glance at the beanie-wearing boy in the driver seat. His knuckles were gloved but she knew they were white under the black leather by the way he gripped the steering wheel, like it was the only think keeping him grounded. 

Jughead scowled out the window, his eyes on the road. His chest was heaving, foot heavy on the accelerator. 

Third gear turned into fourth, turned into fifth. The engine whined as the trees sped by at an ever-increasing speed. Betty clutched the door, eyes wide, seeing the furry in Jughead’s eyes. She knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she didn’t want either of them to die or put any more dents in Reggie’s car.

“Jug,” She managed to croak. “Jug we are safe, slow down… please.” Barely above a whisper, “Juggie.”

His foot slammed on the break as his nickname fell from her lips. They came to a screeching halt in the middle of a backcountry road, their trail of dust slowly passing them as they sat in silence. Still gripping the steering wheel just as tight, Jughead stared out the window, nostrils flaring, shoulders hunched and tense. 

Slowly she reached for his arm.

“Don’t,” he said, still not looking at her. 

She withdrew her hand, placing both of her fists in her lap. She shook out a deep breath, looked out the window. “Can we go someplace to talk?” she asked pleadingly. She needed to tell him, he needed to know now, before he self-destructed anymore. He needed to know she was in his corner, never really having left. He needed to know how much she loved him, she would do anything to help him in any way she could. 

“Please Juggie.” There it was again, that name, only sounding right when it came from her. “I need to tell you…”

“Tell me what?” He snapped at her finally turning to look her in the face, his tear stained face matching hers.

“Everything,” she breathed.

They stared at each other, both breathing hard and letting the silent tears spill down their cheeks. Finally Jughead put the car into first and slowly made his way down the road. They were close to the old abandon highway where Jason and Polly hid their getaway car. A place where a promise of a loving and happy future went up in flames. 

He pulled the car over after passing the dilapidated maple syrup sign. Jughead killed the engine, and without looking at Betty got out of the car and slammed the door. Slowly she unbuckled and followed him into the clearing. Jughead paced, kicking up leaves and sticks in his path as though they were the source of his misery. 

It was soon after coming here the first time with Betty that he kissed her, and she kissed him back. He was so stupid on so many levels; of course he never could have seen his father’s involvement, Fred’s unfitness to foster him, being sent to the South Side and having to join the Serpents out of desperation for survival, but why hadn’t he seen how impossible they were? He knew they were different, from different worlds, but now he could see clearly: He had messed everything up. He was going to lose his best friend, the only person he can remember saying, “I love you,” to him besides Jellybean. 

He ran his fingers through his hair as he pulled off his beanie. He looked so broken and so vulnerable. Betty just stared at him opening and closing his mouth, trying to decide what to say. 

“Before you tell me anything, Betty, I need to tell you something… so you can decide if I’m even worth the truth.” He swallowed hard, “I… Toni…She kissed me after I finished my initiation with the Serpents. I kissed her back. We didn’t sleep together or anything like that, but I am not innocent in that exchange. She spent the night at the trailer…in..in a different room.” He looked up at Betty, unable to read her face. 

“I saw you with her at Pop’s, you looked happy…” She said trying to hold back the wave of sorrow crashing down on her. Her worst fear, he had moved on already, that fast. Not even twelve hours later he was in her arms. A small sob escaped her mouth, which she quickly tried to cover with her trembling hand. She hid her other fist behind her back as she began digging her nails through each layer of skin. The pain in her palm was nothing compared to the shattering of her heart. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, she was supposed to be able to walk it back. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, hanging his head. “I know it doesn’t make it OK, but when Archie came and told me off, I figured the inevitable had happened: that you left me for him. That with me out of the picture he finally realized he was an idiot for not falling head over heels for you. And you? Well you have been waiting for years, Betty. You make so much more sense. You fit so much better with him. Like you had said: Cheerleader and football star, power couple, you would have ruled Riverdale High. And he would make you happy, and keep you safe, and give you everything you needed and deserved. High school sweethearts, living happily ever after…perfect suburbia… perfect…” 

Perfect. Jughead’s words stung, she couldn’t believe he thought so little of her, that she would just abandon him like that. Perfect. She was more furious than ever that he didn’t come after her. Perfect. Hadn’t she proved time and time again that she chose him? Supported him? Fought for him? Perfect. Before she realized what she was doing her hand made contact with his already bruised face. A small smack echoed in the clearing. Perfect. 

Betty gasped at her own reaction, Jughead stared wide eyed at her, his hand coming to a rest on his stinging cheek. When he pulled his hand away he saw blood, which was confusing at first, he didn’t have any cuts on that side of his face. He looked at Betty, at his hand, at her hand, realizing that it wasn’t his blood. A scowl of concern met his brow.  
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked out, quickly hiding her hands behind her back as she watched him put two and two together. 

“Betty,” his voice was strained

“Do you still love me Juggie?” She realized it was a weird question to ask after she had physically assaulted him. 

He did. He did, so much. Always and forever. Since they were kids. Since he knew he could have different feelings about girls. He kissed Toni because he needed someone, anyone. He was so broken physically, mentally, emotionally, and she was there to help him start picking up the pieces and forget. Forget that there was a north side girl that had his heart, and so he told her. 

“Yes, Betts. Of course I still love you, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t.” He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he couldn’t lift his arms, his leather jacket feeling like a thousand pound weight on his shoulders. “I know I can’t undo what I did, but I had been through hell and back that week, and I needed someone to be there, you weren’t, she was.” 

Betty let out a sob.“I still don’t understand why you joined them.”

“To protect you, and Archie, and Riverdale, and The Serpents themselves. My father was the peacekeeper and since he’s been gone it’s like the Wild West. They were planning on bombing The Register after what your mother wrote, and now the crack down from Mayor McCoy isn’t helping either. And we are now in a turf war with the Ghoulies. I though that if I joined them I could settle everyone back down. I thought I could fix it and… and.. oh my god, Betty…How could I be so stupid?” he covered his face in his hands. “What am I going to do? How am I going to go back and face them? They are my family now, I’m going to lose everything: you, Archie, the Serpents, the school. All hell is going to break loose.”

“You are not going to lose me, or Archie. The Serpents will listen to you. We will figure something out.”

“We?...” he asked looking up at her. 

She flashed the saddest smile at him. “We…if you’ll let me? Please, Juggie. I need you.” He let his gaze drop to her shoes. “Or…” she began, “or Toni can help you. I can talk to her, if you want me to, tell her everything that has been going on. She can help you.” Betty was pacing at this point, rambling as she does when she gets nervous.

Jughead just stared at her. She stopped talking when she saw the look on his face: confusion, concern.

“I just want you to be happy Jughead, and safe. Happy and safe. If Toni can do a better job of that, then I guess I have to let her…I…I…” She couldn’t muster any more words. 

“Why the hell do you think she would make me happier? I just told you that I love you, that I thought you didn’t want me…”

“You looked happy with her at Pop’s…”

“Yeah, I was enjoying her company after she told me she would rather be with a girl than me,” he scoffed. Rejected by two women… and his mother, great track record. Frustrated with where this conversation was going, “Damn it, Betty, what has been going on?”

Betty seemed to remember why they had stopped off in the first place, so she could tell him everything that had been going on. She hadn’t expected to be on the receiving end of such heavy news; she thought she was the one that was going to be dropping bombs. 

“The…the Black Hood has been calling me,” Betty finally managed to squeak out. Jughead immediately turned to face her, his scowl turning into a furrowed brow of worry. 

“What the hell, Betts? What? How? He?” Jughead could barely form a coherent thought, let alone string together words to form a sentence. 

Betty took a deep breath, she knew she needed to get it all out at once, or it wasn’t going to come out at all. 

“After we figured out the cipher, and warned everyone, he started calling me. He started threatening everyone I love, Jughead. He made me publish that article about my mom, he made me push away Veronica, he made me push away you.” A sob escaped her lips. “He told me that if I didn’t cut everyone out of my life, he would do it for me ‘his way’” she mustered enough strength to give small quote signs. “He said he didn’t want to share me, that he wanted me all to himself…I’ve been so scared Jughead, so stupid. Archie knew what was going on, so I sent him to break up with you, oh god Jug, I thought I could walk this back…I want so bad to take it back, I love you.” Her face was buried in her hands as she sobbed. 

Jughead ran his hands through his hair, knocking his beanie to the ground, where he soon followed. He sat on the ground, elbows on knees, head in hands, listening as Betty wept, unable to move. 

“I am so sorry Jughead, I was just trying to protect you. If any thing happened to you because of something that I did, I could never forgive myself. But it looks like I failed anyways, I wasn’t there for you, and now… now you’re in a gang, trying to save the world.” And exasperated sob leapt from her throat, and she tried to mask it with laughter. “When did we start lying to each other Juggie? When did we start hiding?”

Jughead just shook his head. They were so busy trying to keep each other and the ones they loved safe, they ended up putting each other in harms way. If he had been there for her he would have known about the Black Hood, could have kept her safe. If he had been there for her, she would have known the gangs were splintering, that a war was coming from the north and the south. She would have found a better way to fix everything than to join a gang. He loved her so much, how did he let this happen? She was fighting for him, for FP, for Pops, for Archie and his dad, Veronica and her dad, Polly, the twins, the North side and the South side, she was fighting for everyone, all the time. And now she was taking the Black Hood on by herself? 

“I messed up big, Betty,” He said looking up at her from his seat on the ground. She stood a few feet away, hugging herself, kicking a pebble with her shoe.

“Me too, Juggie.”

He reached his hand out for her to take; she stared at it for a few moments, before letting her hand fall into his. He savored the touch of her hand a moment before pulling her down next to him. He shrugged his serpent jacket off, draped it around her shoulders and pulled her in close, kissing her hair, fearing she would push him away. But she didn’t, she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“He called me that night, the night I had sent Archie. He told me I could find out who he was, he gave me an address, and I went.” 

Jughead stared at her in horror.

“The house was abandon, I went inside, there was a box, with a black hood in it. He made me put it on, and told me I was him, that we were the same. He asked me for a name, Jughead, I had to pick someone for him to kill,” She sobbed, “And I did. I picked someone, he was going to kill Polly, he knew she was at the farm, he was going to kill her unless I picked someone, I picked some one, Jughead, I did, I picked someone,” her eyes were wide with fear, tears streaming down her face, Jughead could tell she was collapsing under all the weight; the weight of all of Riverdale was finally too much for Betty Cooper. 

“Shhhh,” Jughead stroked her hair. He racked his mind but couldn’t remember reading about anyone else being murdered, so there must be more to the story, he thought. “No one else got hurt Betty, right? No one else…”

“He said Nick wasn’t a Son of Riverdale, so he spared him, so long as I find a real sinner, the ‘Sugarman.’ The man that is funneling Jingle Jangle into Riverdale. Veronica is helping me, that’s why we followed that dealer to the Ghoulies lair.”

Jughead knew that excuse that the girls had given Archie and him originally was bogus, but he was still too pissed and broken to care. 

“I’m going to find out who he is, so no one else gets hurt.” Betty said with that shear look of determination on her face, the one that she got whenever they were investigating a lead, the same look when she told Jughead she was going to fight for FP, the same look that made him fall in love with her. She turned to look at him, their eyes searching for answers in each other’s faces. “Will you help me Jughead?” She whispered.

His hands came up to her face and his lips answered ‘yes’ into her mouth. A small gasp escaped her lips before leaning into him, deepening the kiss. It felt like ages since he had kissed her like this, the last kiss, the one in the dinner felt so sad and broken, so final. He pulled away, still holding her face, resting his forehead against hers. 

“I am so sorry, Betts. I can’t begin to apologize at how crappy of a boyfriend I have been, but please let me still be your boyfriend, please let me stay by your side and sneak through your window.”

“Always,” she sighed.

“Always.” He kissed her again, deeper, trying to put all the love he had for her in it. He cupped her face, thumbs trying to brush away her tears. Her fists were wrapped up in his shirt, pulling him closer. Breathless, he pulled away, “I love you, Betty Cooper.”

She smiled, picked up his beanie, dusted it off and placed it on his head. “Jughead Jones, I love you.”

Fin.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends,  
> Long time lurker, first time poster.  
> I have been loving all the Riverdale stories, especially ones that fill in the gaps, I really feel like this should have been in the episode since their relationship is so important and so much has happened that the other doesnt know about. Anywho, I hope yall enjoy reading it as much as I did getting it down on paper.  
> I wrote and edited this while I was quite tired so please forgive any horrible spelling and/or grammar mistakes. It has also been a long time since I have written anything like this.  
> <3


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